AP source: 3-team deal sends Redick to Clippers

By BOB BAUM , Associated Press

Jul. 2, 201310:23 PM ET

PHOENIX (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends J.J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns.

Chris Carlson

In this Feb. 24, 2013, photo, Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe drives against the Utah Jazz during an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends J.J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Clippers and Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns. The deal also sends Jared Dudley from the Suns to the Clippers and Caron Butler from the Clippers to the Suns. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In this Feb. 24, 2013, photo, Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe drives against the Utah Jazz during an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends J.J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Clippers and Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns. The deal also sends Jared Dudley from the Suns to the Clippers and Caron Butler from the Clippers to the Suns. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

FILE - In this Dec. 23, 2013, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers' Caron Butler, right, drives the baseline past Phoenix Suns' Jared Dudley during an NBA basketball game in Phoenix. A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends J.J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns. The deal also sends Dudley from the Suns to the Clippers and Butler from the Clippers to the Suns. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso, File)

In this March 20, 2013, photo, Milwaukee Bucks guard J.J. Redick gestures during an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta. A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends Redick from the Bucks to the Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns. The deal also sends Jared Dudley from the Suns to the Clippers and Caron Butler from the Clippers to the Suns. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The deal also sends Jared Dudley from the Suns to the Clippers and Caron Butler from the Clippers to the Suns. The Bucks will get two second-round draft picks, according to the person who requested anonymity because the deal can't officially be made public until July 10 under NBA rules.

Yahoo! Sports, which first reported the trade, said Redick gets a four-year, $27 million sign-and-trade contract as part of the exchange.

In Redick, the Clippers get a much-needed shooting guard to play alongside Chris Paul, who has decided to re-sign with a team that has visions of contending for the Western Conference title.

The Bucks acquired Redick from Orlando just before the February trade deadline, but decided not to re-sign him. Between the two teams, Redick averaged a career-best 14.1 points per game. He scored a career-high 31 points and made a career-best eight 3-pointers for Orlando against Detroit on Jan. 27. The former Duke star averaged 12.1 points with the Bucks.

Bledsoe is the important piece for the Suns in the first trade engineered by new general manager Ryan McDonough. Paul's highly regarded backup played three seasons for Los Angeles after being drafted 18th overall out of Kentucky in the 2010 draft. Bledsoe averaged 8.5 points and 3.1 assists in 76 games for the Clippers last season.

The Suns already have Goran Dragic and Kendall Marshall at point guard, then drafted another in 18-year-old Archie Goodwin from Kentucky with the 29th pick last week.

Just what McDonough plans to do to relieve that logjam remains an open question because team officials are prohibited from talking about any moves until July 10.

Dudley, a highly popular player with Phoenix who played small forward and shooting guard for the Suns, tweeted his approval of the trade.

"I can't lie, I'm excited to play close to home!!!" he wrote. "If I had to go to any team it would be the Clippers!! Time to get to work!!!"

He also thanked the fans and the coaches, current and former team officials and Suns owner Robert Sarver.

Dudley, in his fifth NBA season and third with the Suns, averaged a career-high 10.9 points in 2012-13, his first as a starter, but he was part of a team that posted the second-worst record in Suns history.

With the drafting of 7-foot-1 Alex Len as the fifth pick overall and the acquisition of Bledsoe and Butler, McDonough — formerly the assistant GM in Boston — is making his first steps to shake up that unimpressive roster.

The deal has the Suns taking on the contract of Butler, a two-time NBA all-star who has played 11 seasons in the league with five teams. His biggest success came in his time with the Washington Wizards. Butler averaged 10.4 points last season, the second of a three-year, $24 million contract he signed with the Clippers.

PHOENIX (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation says a three-team trade is in place that sends J.J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns.